Manager Don Mattingly also implied that the situation could escalate later in the season, as he sounded more concerned about administering vigilante justice than he did about the consequences of doing so.

As it was, the Dodgers already lost Yasiel Puig from the starting lineup, as the rookie outfielder sat with a strained right shoulder he presumably sustained in the fracas. Puig singled in the 12th, but he could be serving a suspension when the Dodgers open a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Friday.

The league office is expected to issue suspensions and fines Thursday, which is a day off for the Dodgers. Puig was one of three Dodgers ejected for his role in the melee, Belisario and hitting coach Mark McGwire also being tossed.

At least two Dodgers on the disabled list were on the field: Josh Beckett and Chris Capuano. While players on the disabled list are permitted to be in the dugout, they are explicitly forbidden to enter the field of play.

If the Dodgers had any regrets, they didn't express them.

"Yesterday, we showed that you can't mess with us," Belisario said.

The Dodgers' problems with the Diamondbacks dates to September 2011, when Gerardo Parra stood to admire a home run. The next day, Clayton Kershaw hit Parra with a pitch.

The bad blood spilled into the next season, when Ian Kennedy threw at Kershaw twice in the same at-bat, once inside and once behind him. Kershaw responded later in the game with a pitch to Kennedy that was up and in.

There's something else about the first-place Diamondbacks that bothers the Dodgers: They can't beat them. They have now lost 17 of their last 21 games to Arizona.

The Diamondbacks went ahead, 3-0, in a four-hit fourth inning against Hyun-Jin Ryu. The first of their three runs scored when Dodgers catcher Ramon Hernandez, appearing to be concerned about being bowled over by Cody Ross, couldn't handle a perfect throw from left fielder Alex Castellanos.

The Dodgers scored four runs in fifth inning, which included a mistimed dive by Parra in right field that turned a would-be single by Ryu into a triple. Adrian Gonzalez drove in the go-ahead run to put the Dodgers ahead, 4-3.

With Ryu pitching only six innings, Mattingly was forced to turn the game over to his unreliable bullpen in the seventh. Hard-throwing Chris Withrow, making his major league debut, retired the first two batters he faced, but wound up giving up up the tying run on a single by Miguel Montero. Withrow walked Martin Prado to load the bases, prompting Mattingly to call on Paco Rodriguez, who struck out Didi Gregorius to maintain the 4-4 tie.